Matthew Coutts
Shoeb Khan kneeled in the foyer of Toronto’s downtown convention centre Friday morning as he rifled through a package of flyers and booklets he had just been handed.
The 23-year-old Muslim student shoveled papers advertising Muslim clothing and products to the side before grabbing from a plastic bag a thick program guide outlining a weekend-long convention of the Muslim faith in Western Society.
Attending Toronto’s Reviving the Islamic Spirit convention for the first time, he said he still wasn’t sure what lectures he would attend, but had decided to attend after hearing a friend talk about it.
“I wanted to come and take it in for myself,” said Mr. Khan, saying it opens a dialogue into North America’s often tense relationship with his faith. “It is a really good time for introspection. It makes you think about a lot of things some people want to ignore.”
An estimated 17,000 Muslims from across Canada and the U.S. will attend the three-day event in downtown Toronto this weekend to hear scholars, including Yusuf Islam, formerly known as singer Cat Stevens, discuss how the Muslim faith melds with the Western world.
“We want to help people who are Muslim to stay true to both their faith, but also to Canadian norms and values,” said convention spokesperson Sameer Zuberi. “It’s a topic that often comes up.”
The Reviving the Islamic Spirit (RIS), in its eight year, was first launched following the 9/11 terrorist attacks to help moderate Muslims find a voice in a changing North America.
The event is highlighted by Friday and Saturday evening appearances by Mr. Islam, who will address the topic of the healing of humanity. Organizers say it will be Mr. Islam’s first Canadian appearance in a decade.
Other lectures include a discussion on how Islamic life in the Western world will evolve, the balance between science and religion and the social implications of domestic violence.
Hamza Yusuf, founder of America’s first Muslim college, and Prof. Tariq Ramadan, an Oxford professor named by Time as one of the world’s 100 most influential people, are among the keynote speakers.
Comedy group “Allah Made Me Funny” will also perform.
Taha Agha, a 23-year-old working in advertising, said he had attended the convention three years ago and wanted to come back with his brother, Farjad, 18, a University of Waterloo engineering student.
“There are scholars speaking, but the convention is targeted toward people not at the scholarly level. It speaks at a human level everyone can comprehend,” Mr. Agha said. “It’s a good way to take a couple days and come back to your faith.”
Hundreds of attendees were lining up as early as 10:30 Friday morning. By noon, they were streaming into the convention centre, checking out start times for the first lectures and perusing the floor of a marketplace set up in the convention hall.
Booths with traditional scarves and etchings mixed with more modern fare. A book retailer selling weighty tombs on the Koran also had cartoon children’s stories and Razanne, a Barbie-like Muslim doll, complete with hijab and sold with a CD filled with prayer chants.
“New Razanne builds character,” the box reads. “It’s what’s inside that counts.”
A large prayer room on the convention floor was busting with kneeling visitors on Friday, as Zaid Shakir, an Imam from the United States, addressed the congregation of the expectation of Islam.
“Don’t let the hatred of other people move you to be unjust,” he said, before prayer.
Posted: December 25, 2009, National Post
